Philip Morris to Build New Research Facility—Bad News for Animals
Philip Morris has announced its plans to build a 450,000-square-foot research and development facility in Richmond, Virginia, that appears to include an expanded animal research center.
According to undisclosed sources, the design plans for the facility contain rooms labeled “Primate Room 1” and “Primate Room 2.” What makes this discovery even more dismaying is the fact that Philip Morris has been linked with Covance Laboratories, where a recent PETA undercover investigator videotaped employees abusing monkeys.
For decades, tobacco companies such as Philip Morris have used animal experiments to mislead people into believing that smoking was safe. This is particularly misguided because animals do not develop cancer in the same way that humans do. Now Philip Morris plans to expand its research into further attempts to fool the public into believing that smoking its cigarettes can be less harmful.
Dogs, rats, monkeys, and rabbits are hooked up to machines and forced to inhale cigarette smoke in vain attempts to prove that cigarettes are safe. Oftentimes researchers use pregnant animals to determine how smoking affects newborns - despite the abundance of evidence proving that it causes harm.
In one recent study, pregnant rhesus monkeys were hooked up to mechanized pumps and forced to ingest nicotine for more than three months. The monkeys’ fetuses were then surgically removed before reaching full term and killed so that their lungs could be dissected and examined.
Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder (who signed the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act while he was governor of Virginia) has revealed that the city gave Philip Morris several acres of city property assessed at $3.2 million, along with a 10-year abatement in property taxes, for the facility. PETA wrote a letter to Mayor Wilder urging him to withdraw the city’s financial commitment to the project unless Philip Morris provides assurances that no animal experimentation will take place at the facility.
Until smoking really is history, Philip Morris will do anything it can to make sure that its bottom line is healthy - but it continues to do so at the expense of animals. There are numerous alternatives to animal research, including clinical trials and epidemiological studies using volunteers who smoke.
Please contact Michael Szymanczyk, chair and CEO of Philip Morris USA, and tell him that Philip Morris must stop conducting laboratory experiments on animals:
Michael Szymanczyk, Chair and CEO
Philip Morris USA
6601 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23230
804-274-2000
1-800-343-0975
http://pmusa.com/en/contact_us/contact_us_by_email.asp?action=init
